Wednesday 24 August 2011 19.05 EDT
First published on Wednesday 24 August 2011 19.05 EDT

They may have been called the "dark ages", but a new exhibition at the British Library will aim to show that there were medieval artists producing work that was as remarkably colourful as it was beautiful.

The library has announced details of a winter exhibition that will display, on a scale never seen before, some of the treasures from its collection of illuminated royal manuscripts.

The show's curator, Scot McKendrick, said on Wednesday that the 1,200 manuscripts it owned was "a remarkable inheritance". He added: "They are some of the most outstanding examples of decorative and figurative painting that survive in Britain from between the 8th and 16th centuries."

Illuminated manuscripts are some of the most luxurious of all artefacts from the middle ages, and ones produced for English kings and queens are among the most stunning.

McKendrick said the state of preservation was "truly remarkable, truly spectacular" and the vibrancy of the colours seem as fresh now as they would have been when they were first painted.

One level of the show will be a rare opportunity to see glorious art contained within books that are normally stored away. Another will shine light on to the evolving relationship between English monarchs and the Christian church from Anglo-Saxon to Tudor times.

One section will focus on a monarch who should be better known – Edward IV, who ruled between 1471-83 and who succeeded in reviving the fortunes and finances of England. He was a great collector of illuminated books and some of the best were from Bruges and the Low Countries. "They are large, very colourful and focus on subjects both secular and religious," said McKendrick.

A highlight of the exhibition will be a route map or itinerary for any 13th century pilgrim preparing to journey from London to Jerusalem. Drawn by Matthew Paris, a historian and an advisor to Henry III, it is almost a rough guide to getting there through Kent, France and Italy to the boat in Apulia, showing the must-see landmarks en route. It is all the more surprising since the only foreign country Paris is known to have ever visited is Norway.

There will also be a contemporary illustration of a 10th century king, a rather jolly-looking Edgar, celebrating the introduction of Benedictine rule at Winchester. Another exhibit, from 600 years later, will be Henry VIII's psalter, in which he has made intellectual annotations in Latin.

The details came as BBC4 also announced a three-part tie-in series called The Private Lives of Medieval Kings.

• Royal Manuscripts: The Genius of Illumination will be at the British Library from 11 November-13 March.